Re-membering Myths
A Theopoietic Incarnation of the Body, Ecology, and the Sacred
As a multimedia artist and researcher, I have developed the theoretical framework "Re-membering Myths" that offers a new perspective on the ecological crisis.
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The Theory: Re-membering Myths
The Notion of "Re-making" (Ana-skevi)
The title "Re-membering Myths" plays on the Greek verb "ανα-σκευάζω"—to re-evaluate or revise—and the noun "σκεύος" meaning vessel, metaphorically the body, proposing a re-evaluation of the body and our materiality.
The Theopoietic Essay "Re-membering Eden"
What if the Fall was not punishment but misinterpretation? What if decomposition were sacred rather than shameful? This essay proposes that humanity left paradise not because of disobedience but due to the trauma caused by recognizing decomposition.
I argue that the contemporary crises we face stem from this "primordial reaction to decay"—a deep-seated aversion to the natural processes of breakdown and recomposition—leading to a "temporal disharmony" and a "hierarchy of mind over body." This section presents the key concepts of this theory.
Primordial Reaction to Decay
A fundamental psychological and cultural aversion to the natural processes of decomposition. This initial rupture estranged us from the cycles of life, death, and renewal, laying the groundwork for unsustainable practices.
Temporal Disharmony
A conflict between the temporal frameworks of mind and body. The mind seeks permanence and eternal truths, while the body follows biological rhythms of growth and decay. This disharmony produces inner conflict and alienation.
Aesthetic Response & Re-connection
Art and aesthetic experience can serve as a path toward healing. By eliciting an "aesthetic response," we can re-connect with embodied knowing, bridge the gap between mind and body, and cultivate a deeper ecological consciousness.
The Symbolic Language
To articulate these ideas, I have developed a unique symbolic language. Each symbol represents a core idea within the "Re-membering Myths" framework. Click a symbol below to explore its meaning and understand how these pieces join into a coherent whole. This lexicon is an extra-verbal key for decoding the theory's deeper structure.
Entropy
Dispersion, dissolution, and the tendency toward disorder. The inevitable cost of energy flow—the cost of life.
The irreversible diffusion of energy. In cultural terms, often conflated with decay, fueling the mistaken belief that every dissolution is loss.
Syntropy
The principle of convergence, complexity, and order that generates life. It is the intelligent direction behind evolution, regeneration, and the emergence of life.
Syntropic Decay: The biological, directed, sacred process of decomposition—syntropy in action, transformation rather than erasure.
The Whole
Wholeness, cyclicality, completion. The coexistence of opposites in a spiral. Life and death, matter and spirit, ascent and dissolution—inseparable.
Cycle of Life
A symbol of perpetual renewal: from conception to growth; from decay, ending, and diffusion, to regeneration. Not a line but a loop.
Grief / Lament
Grief is the cost of love.
Failures, transient and permanent losses, pain, illness, and accidents are integral parts of life.
Grief is a kind of compost, preparing us for something new.
Oceanic Feeling
The sense of vastness and Oneness with the universe.
The antidote to the alienation caused by Hierarchy and shame.
Food into Waste
A symbol representing the transformation of digestion that provokes shame when not understood as part of regeneration.
Partial Knowledge
A state of understanding entropy but not "syntropic" decay—the awareness of mortality without grasping the regenerative power of decomposition.
As if one eye were open while the other remained closed.
Primordial Rupture
The moment we believed the body to be an Agent of Decay—a traitor to the mind—and recoiled. The first moral wound. Shame enters consciousness. The symbolic "fall" that separated us from the cycle.
Labyrinth of Taboos
The cultural labyrinth built around death, decay, and the body's "lower" functions. A complex web of denial that shrouds natural processes in shame and aesthetic values.
Decarnis
Neologism denoting the embodied grief of separation from our animal nature. The shame that dwells in our belly, like a convict's ball dragging us down.
Re-union
The thread that can stitch the inner rift and help us collectively bridge the chasm between humanity and Nature, as in Re-⚭-membering.
Refined Knowledge
Cooperative, emergent, or integrated knowledge—refined by experience, humility, interdependence, and intuition that unites intellectual knowing with bodily wisdom. Knowledge arising from Re-union.
Material Divinity
The sacred presence inherent in all material processes—from seed to flower, from decomposer to cosmic dust, from birth to death. Felt as flow and synchronicity. Yet the asymmetry of entropy/syntropy means entropy predominates: Material Divinity is not omnipotent and acts only at the margins.
Hierarchy
The structure that places mind over body, culture over nature, and the "immutable" over the "cyclical."
An immediate consequence of the Primordial Rupture.
Temporal Perception
Harmony / Disharmony
The mismatch between different scales of growth/decay: ideas seem eternal, while flesh is perishable.
It is the difference between the measurable and the felt—like a clock's beats versus our heartbeat.
Time (Linear)
The perception of time as a straight line inevitably leading to entropic decay—the temporal dimension of Hierarchy.
Kairos (Cyclical)
The perception of time as cycles of seasons, rhythms, and renewal—the temporal dimension of Decay and Re-union.
The Work: Venus Incarnis
"Venus Incarnis: Seeds of Material Divinity" is the artistic incarnation of the "Re-membering Myths" theory. It appropriates the primordial figure of the Willendorf Venus and the Catalan tradition of the Caganer to challenge contemporary taboos around the body, decay, and regeneration, exploring our relationship with nature and sacred materiality.
Conception and Materials
The installation centers on a re-appropriation of the Willendorf Venus presented in the earthy posture of the Caganer. Full-bodied, with a baby in front and excrement behind, the figure invites acceptance of bodily wholeness. A lightbox with illuminated text and a seedbed with living seeds (lentils, chickpeas) sprout during the exhibition, visualizing the transformation of "waste" into life.
Ecological Activism
The work functions as a subversive form of contemporary ecological activism. It extends beyond the gallery through "planting kits" containing a small biodegradable 3D-printed PVA figurine (corn-based) and a soil mix like the seedbed. The public is invited to "plant" the goddess, participating in an act of restoration and reconnection with the earth.
The Exhibition
Venus Incarnis: Seeds of Material Divinity is presented within the group exhibition "KYTHereia Aphrodite — From Hidden Erotic Passion to the Online Search for Love."
Location
Merkato, Chora Kythiron, Kythira, Greece: In harmony with the mythic place of Kythira, where Aphrodite emerged, the work explores hidden aspects of biology, posing questions about digital realities and erotic connection in the contemporary world.
Opening Date: 21 September
About the Artist